About a month ago, the Jump Ship Jam opened, and a few days ago, it was closed, with a bunch of games made by devs using entirely new and unfamiliar engines. Among these devs is Slay the Spire creator Mega Crit, who has released a new deckbuilding battling game, this time called Dancing Duelists, and it’s entirely free.
This was done because Mega Crit wanted to move toward Godot due to the recent news of Unity’s controversial fees. The game is a mix of Slay the Spire’s familiar mechanics under an entirely new aesthetic and style, with some brand new gameplay backing it to make for a unique experience you should give a go.
What’s in the Game?
The game has about seven battles in it, but you can choose from one of eleven different characters at the start, all of which have their own unique deck of cards. You can go into every battle picking out a few of the cards you think will help you best during it, and they’ll be shuffled into your deck as the battle plays out.
Unlike Slay the Spire, you don’t get to choose your cards, and the battles are played out mostly automatically, so it’s more about making good choices before the round starts rather than during combat. To account for this, you can lose three times on any run, and each enemy is significantly less tanky than Slay the Spire.
You can also win battles in two other ways: making your own HP reach 50 or stalling until it’s been 20 rounds. Getting a ton of HP is just a matter of picking the right, unique cards, and this can also help with a stalling strategy, but note the fighter with the most HP will win by default, so this can go poorly.
Just like Slay the Spire, you’re constantly getting presented with new cards to add to your deck, and in this game, you’re forced to add two before each round. On top of that, you’ll get a particular item after every other fight, similar to the items in Slay the Spire that grant special effects to help turn the tide of a battle that’s going poorly.
This short little game will probably take you only a few hours to complete fully, and it’s currently only available on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It’s doubtful that it will come to consoles since it’s intended to be a little freebie while the team figures out everything with Godot, so regardless, it’s an excellent little bonus game in the meantime.
They note that you can donate to Godot instead of paying for the game. And if you want to support Mega Crit specifically, you could just buy Slay the Spire again and vote for them in the Jump Ship Jam. Nonetheless, Dancing Duelists is out right now and is just a quirky, fun little time for anyone wanting to try something out.
Further Reading
If you’d like to hear more about Mega Crit’s future endeavors, Slay the Spire, or some other great indies, stick here for more.
- Slay The Spire Ascension Guide
- Best Slay the Spire Mods – How To Make The Best Deck Builder Even Better!
- Best Game Jam Games – The Little Games That Could
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